One of the reasons I voted for Japan was food. Even though at first sushi did not really intrigue me. On the contrary, I had to play knowledgeable the first time they’ve ordered sushi at our company 😛 Not to mention the training with holding the chopsticks!

But little by little, you learn to love the taste. To understand how much wasabi to take with each bite. To appreciate the fresh fish. To learn that this is the umami taste, one of the five basic tastes together with sweetness, saltiness, bitterness and sourness. Beautiful discovery, isn’t it? The umami taste can be translated as pleasantsavory taste.

Little did I know about the variety of food in Japan, though. In one month, we had sushi 3 times. Yes, only 3. Here’s what else we have tried and how we liked it.

Lunch in Kinugawakoen, a small town north of Tokyo. Their dishes are often composed of small diverse portions including rice, fish and pickled vegetables. A small soup is always a must at the beginning of a meal.

A similar variety, but with tempura, instead of fish. Tempura consists of seafood, vegetables or even meat coated with batter and deep fried. It is usually served together with sauce. It was introduced by the Portuguese in the 16th century and has become one of the most well known dishes outside of Japan.

Here’s another tempura dish. It was common to have a big bowl of soup with vegetables and tempura aide.

Five course menu at Nikko. Click on each of the pictures below to see what they are. Thanks to Nadina and Piet for the recommendation of this specific restaurant 😉

Yuba, made of soybeans

Sesame paste with wasabi

Cold soup, edamame, eggs, pumpkin, watermelon

Vegetables with cold jelly

Jellybeans (dessert)

The menu, if it helps 🙂

Traditional Japanese breakfast. Even though it looks very stylish and very well taken care of, I would have opted for some old plain bread instead.

Soba for lunch, a sort of pasta with all kind of vegetables.

Loved it, it seems 🙂 [especially the tempura!]

After climbing down Fuji, we’ve treated ourselves with Fuji goodies: coffee and a sweet pastry in the shape of Fuji. They totally love this mountain 🙂

One of my top three dishes was gyutan curry stew. Gyutan is basically beef tongue. It was specific for Sendai area, in the north of the main Island of Japan. Wouldn’t have thought I would like it so much, so if you happen to encounter it, just give it a try 😉

Grilled gyutan (beef tongue). Delicious!

Japanese gyutan dumplings. Filled with meat, they are a wonder aside soy sauce for light evenings.

But of course, we wouldn’t always know what we order. One of the first meals in Hiroshima was the case. Just look at my face watching a bowl of udon (thick noodles)…

This must have been the reason why… 😀

Edamame, or immature soya beans, are steamed and served with salt. You eat just the inside which contains soya beans, looking very similar to the oh-so-known beans.

Okonomiyaki! Order the mix and prepare the food yourself on top of a hot plate right in front of you. You like it medium or well done? No problem, it’s up to you!

Rice with chicken coated with a thin layer of omelette. Tassos called it *calzone rice*. This could easily qualify as an insult for both Japanese and Italians, I know, our apologies. It was a rather sweet dish, which I wouldn’t necessary choose again. But well, part of the experience 🙂

Matcha is powdered Green tea. One of the omnipresent tastes in Japan. The very first day we have tried cold matcha tea. It was also the last time. Needless to say, this is also a taste you learn by trying things. By the end of the trip, I was more open to stuff like croissant with matcha (one of my favourite sweets, found in Himeji!), Oreo with matcha, ice cream matcha and even candy with matcha! As you can guess, they had more of these international brands totally adapted to the local market by adding.. matcha 🙂

Grilled salmon, which as a base type of fish, was very affordable. Mind the presentation 😉

We’ve also tried several juices, the one on the left made of some specific fruits (of course I cannot recall the name :p) found in the region of Ise, also called by our lovely friend, Yuki, the Mecca of Shinto shrines. The second one was a gift of a stranger when we’ve knocked at her door for water. We wished her to be healthy 20 times that day :))

The famous Japanese ‘Shabu Shabu’. Legend says that the meat is from cows that are treated with beer and massage to make their meat soft. You dive the thin slices of meat in the heated soup and while you swing it to get cooked you sing to it ‘Shaaaabuuu… shaaabuu…’

Eel on rice and omelet. Eel is considered a very special delicacy in Japan and people are crazy for it when it is the period of fishing (end of summer).

Food is always enjoyed more in the presence of nice people. We were really fortunate to be hosted by some wonderful people. In Ise, our host Yuki introduced us to his friends and took us for dinner in a very special restaurant. I wouldn’t be able to describe all the things we tried, but it was an assortment of different sashimi (raw fish), meat, vegetables and other Japanese delicacies.

Traditional ‘Kyoto style’ sushi. Found only in one restaurant in the famous area of Gion. Nothing tremendously special but definitely filling for the rest of the day.

That’s it for now 🙂 As pictures testify, there are plenty of dishes to try, even if fish is not your favourite. The Japanese are masters in the way they present their food. They want to make it appealing and varied in terms of taste and colour. Moreover, they are very fast with delivering as we have rarely waited more than 10 minutes to be served an order. How they manage to do this, is a mystery I haven’t resolved yet 🙂

The only disappointment was that I could not find those colourful and (sometimes) unbelievable sweets from Bored Panda that I have dreamed of before going there.

In case you have missed the last post, we have spent (almost) a month traveling around Japan. That made it for quite some stories that we want to share with you

For this second part, I was thinking to share with you the things I fell in love with in Japan. Writing down what impressed me and what I didn’t die for, it was fairly easy to see that there were far more positive things But enough with this introduction, let’s get it started!

1. Their transportation system

Me, impressed for not only the train (shinkansen) has arrived on time, but our car was precisely where it was expected. Good job, Japan!

2. That they serve water with every meal

Whether you sit down for a meal or simply a coffee, you will always receive water or green tea (ocha). This is like a fundamental right to me and would love to see it everywhere in Europe 🙂

3. Their mindfulness about others and when designing things

No Smoking Area in Himeji. Outside.

When they are sick, they use a protective mask to avoid spreading the germs. You can be in a dress or a tie and all arranged, but if you are sick, you wear a mask. Mindful, isn’t it?

Now, about packaging and daily objects design mindfulness, you’ll have to trust me. Or experience it for yourself hard to catch in a picture, but, really, they are putting meta-thoughts when designing.

4. Their attention to details and quality

When you hear “Japan”, you should immediately think of “quality”. They put a lot of care into everything they make, and that is easily reflected into the products themselves. For now, I will refer to pottery, which is something, I found only there, they are famous for. It is literally a paradise for those who like such stuff, especially since they play with colors, materials, motifs, shapes.

Let’s say I could have bought ALL OF THE pots, bowls, cups, plates that I have seen :p

5. Their “relationship” with cleanness

You always get a paper towel, whether you stop for a coffee or dining (as lots of other products, this particular one was called Fuji, for the respect they have to the mountain). Oh, and you barely see garbage bins on the streets, yet it looks tidy. In Japan, cleanness is at home! 😉 [The desert in the photo is some ice speciality with green tea taste and jelly.]

6. Sushi!

Tasty tuna and salmon sushi we had in a very small restaurant, where the chefs where right in front of us and preparing on the spot all that we wanted 🙂 Thanks to Mimoza, a friend met in Amsterdam, who took us there!

7. Their very silent cars (even when not electric!)

Ok, this one is hard to show in a picture 🙂 you need to experience it yourselves! Truth is we had a couple of times when we were prone to be in danger simply because we haven’t heard the engines… yes, even when not electric!

P.S. Did you spot the deer? 🙂

8. That people don’t talk on the phone while using the public transport

Although they don’t talk on the phone when using public transport, they do play a lot with it.

9. Their clean free of charge public toilets

Not only they are clean, free of charge, but they are also everywhere. Almost always full of technology too 😛 [but those stories are for another post ;)]

10. Their environmental friendly attitude

Not only they apologize, but they also explain why paper towels are missing. Found this lovely, both because of their respect for nature, but also care to explain to those using the toilets.

11. Bonus! The people we have met

Last but not least, I have liked the people we met, who have been more than eager to show us around and explain us stuff: Mimoza, Hideki, Yuki and his friends and Yoshi. Thanks to you, our trip was greatly enriched! ありがと ございます [arigato gozaimas]

For various reasons and circumstances, we have decided to take a month off and travel to Asia. We also reference this trip as our honeymoon 🙂 We had something with Japan, so even though at first we wanted to go in June/July (when it’s rainy season, so a rather no-go), we have postponed it for August to be able to enjoy it 🙂

This is the first post which gives a glimpse on budget, first impressions and pictures from almost every city / town we have visited.

Yasaka Shrine is a Shinto shrine in the Gion district of Kyoto, the so-called Geisha district. We have found during our trip that every Shinto shrine is rebuilt every 20 years from scratch so that tradition is passed from generation to generation.

First things first, since everybody is interested in costs, here are the first “investments” we had to make:

550 € for an open-jaw return ticket with Emirates (not paid to say this, but if you have the chance to fly with them, I highly recommend them 😉 ). We have landed in Tokyo, Haneda airport (which is closer to the city than Narita) and we have taken a return flight from Osaka (Kansai airport).

500€ for a 21-days JR pass (delivered in 3 working days). This is a pass which can be bought only outside of Japan, being dedicated to tourists. It gives you access to almost all their trains (regional, express, Shinkansen — the bullet trains). There are 3 periods available for JR pass: 7, 14 and 21 days. (Later edit: we have kept track of all the trains we have taken, as we were doubting at first that JR pass is going to be that much profitable, and the cost for all the trains we have taken was around ~800 €/person).

Japan Rail Pass featuring sakura (the period when cherry trees blossom) and Mount Fuji, two of the most widespread Japanese symbols. On the back side it contains the holder’s name as well as the validity period.

Accommodation wise, it also depends on your budget. During August, it wasn’t that difficult to find accommodation, although in some smaller cities, AirBnb had few available options. We had found apartments from 36 € / a day for 2 persons, but as well with 100 € for a traditional Japanese style room with tatami floor and mats to sleep. As said, there are options if you want, especially if you don’t mind sharing your space with others 😉 Ah! Probably the most expensive and least private place was a hut on Mount Fuji at 3.250m, for 75€ / person, where we slept with 80 others. Understandable why though 😉

Traditional Japanese room (washitsu) with tatami floor (made of rice straws) and paper doors (shoji). Japanese are crazy and famous for their paper. This has been our room in Onomichi, a small but very nice place, my favourite during this trip 🙂

Food wise, Japan is actually pretty cheap for the quality of food. The best noodles I had (soba, a type of noodles) were in Tokyo in a claustrophobically small restaurant, at around 7 €. The best sushi we had was in Okayama and somewhere under 30 € for two people. The average cost would be somewhere between 10-12 €. And remember, water is free everywhere, which is a high plus, Japan 😀

This is the display of a restaurant which features food from their menu. There is a whole industry around making “plastic” food for display, at least 50% of the restaurants have it. The other 50% always show pictures in their menu 😉

For planning, we had a rough itinerary and accommodation booked for a week. And that was it! For the rest, we have arranged everything on the go and adjusted a bit according to recommendations 🙂 Our inspiration was Japan guide which is incredibly well documented (Mariska and Jesus were right!), every country should have such a complete guide! There, I said it 😛

So for the first post, let’s see a photo from each place we’ve been:

Fish market in Tokyo. This is a rather small, size wise, tuna fish, which I gladly discovered as being absolutely delicious when freshly eaten. Japan has a tuna flavour for me. The fish market was very clean and not killing you with its “fishy” smell 🙂

The Geo-Cosmos which is the symbol exhibit of Miraikan (Science Museum, Odaiba island, Tokyo), produces a rendition of our Earth shining brightly in space with a super high precision exceeding 10 million pixels. It is the world’s first “Globe-like display” using organic LED panels.

Pagoda at Toshogu shrine in Nikko, a town north of Tokyo. Pagodas are places of worship, very very rarely open to the public.

Tanabata Matsuri is a yearly festival in Sendai where a shopping street is “dressed” with these kind of decorations, some made by schools, some by shops, some by people of Hiroshima praying for world peace. They are almost 15m long and made out of washi paper and bamboo.

Pikachu day in Yokohama. Full of pikachus everywhere!

Shiny happy selfie with Pikachu! The ‘victory’ sign we’re doing is a kind of religion, everybody, really, E-V-E-R-Y-B-O-D-Y is doing it when taking a picture, so we’ve blended in!

We have climbed Mount Fuji (Japan’s highest peak at 3776 m) from 5th station, at 2300 m. This is the view from the top, you can see the shade of the almost perfectly conic shape of Fujisan. One of Japan’s symbols, Mount Fuji is actually an active volcano, which most recently erupted in 1708.

We wanted to go to Ise as I fell in love with the bridge on www.japan-guide.com‘s homepage. We have later found out this is THE MECCA of Shinto shrines from our amazing couchsurfer, Yuki and his friends, Tsukuda and Hiromi. That night they’ve treated us GREAT food! Thank you, Yuki, once again 🙂

After Ise, we have made a stop in Okayama. First thing that I associate this place with is the great sushi we had. There is a conveyor belt going around with sushi, you pick whatever you like (or can order if not there already) and then you pay based on the number of the standard plates.

One of the Three Great Gardens of Japan, Kurakoen garden, is in Okayama. The islands, trees, immensity of green fields, tea and rice fields made it one of the must sees for me in Japan. Definitely worth it!

Ok, last picture from Okayama, for now, I promise 😛 This is how rice fields look like, first time for me to see one from such a close by distance. Mind the deep water 😉

Naoshima island breaths art. Full of museums (most of them designed by famous architect Ando Tadao), we’ve found one of the most intriguing of them at Benesse Art Site: Yayoi Kusama’s “Pumpkin”. We are absolutely not centered, not very good looking due to our lack of patience to stay in the queue 😛

Miyajima Island, one of the most scenic spots in Japan, has long been regarded as an Island of Gods on the beautiful Seto Inland Sea. This historical island is home for Itsukushima Shrine, a World Heritage site, which has this famous Torii gate. As you can notice, there was a low tide that day, so perfect to walk all the way close to it 🙂 beautiful indeed!

Our next stop was in Hiroshima, Peace Park and Peace Museum. On August 6th, 1945, USA dropped the first atomic bomb (called “Little Boy”) above Hiroshima, followed three days later, on August 9th, by a second bomb (“Fat Man”) dropped in Nagasaki. Hope this will never happen again!

Onomichi was this small city I have chose as my favourite in Japan 🙂 this is the view from the Observatory. In the inn we were staying at overnight, we’ve found a Japanese person who has spent 22 years in US and returned to Japan especially for this place. It was lovely to exchange opinions with him. Absolutely recommended to check out Miharashi-Tei if you happen to pass by 😉 http://miharashi.onomichisaisei.com/en/

We’ve been to Nara and Osaka next, but seems my phone has few memories from there 😛 Here we are at Inari Shrine in Kyoto, which has almost 10000 (!) Torii gates, all of them donated either by companies of individuals. Took us like 1.5 hours to go all the way to the top of the mountain, but it was definitely worth it 😉

Kinkaku-ji temple in Kyoto has 2 floors out of three covered in golden leaf. Crazy, but it exists! And it is worth visiting 😉

“Maiko” is the term used for an apprentice who wants to become a geisha. We’ve been to a show where they’ve presented tea ceremony, played traditional music, theatre, maiko dancing and also an interesting puppet show.

The show was organized by Gion Corner and at least when we went, it wasn’t that much crowded. We were there 30 minutes before, but it wasn’t really needed.

Himeji Castle is the largest and most visited castle in Japan, being registered in 1993 as one of the first UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the country. Impressive about it is the fact that it is built out of wood.

The last temple we visited was Higashi Honganji, which is one of the biggest wood structures in the world. The part we’ve liked the most was its large space inside which let people take a moment and meditate, something we have barely encountered in all the temples we have seen, thus greatly appreciated.

Must say also that we had to take our shoes off, not for the first time though. But that part of story will follow in the upcoming posts 😉

Japan was amazing. Respectful and helpful people. Cleanness all around. Order. Quality products. And lots of them. More about all these in the upcoming posts. Until then, have you been to Japan? If yes, what did you like best? If no, what in this list triggered your curiosity? Arigato gozaimashta for your comments ツ

I’m a Romanian living in Belgium, and recently I have received the following question over and over: “How is Romania?”

I will write a post about it, but meanwhile, I challenge you to discover it yourself! 🙂What’s the deal?

A friend of mine and his team, involved in a Youth in Action project that is developed in Romania, are looking for 2 Belgian citizens, aged 20-30, that are seeking to discover his/her dreams and to figure out what to do with their future. So if you’re looking for a job, but not really knowing the direction + you have some spare time, that’s your call 🙂

There’s some challenge involved too, of course, and that is you need to decide before Friday, 11th of July, as that is the deadline to submit your name for the ticket. Departure is on 16th of July, your contribution (food, lodging, transport) is €250 and the action will take place in Viscri, with a stopover in Bucharest, Romania’s capital city. You can have a look yourself to the pictures from last year.

Now, I have never been myself to Viscri, however, I did visit the surroundings with several occasions. What I can guarantee for sure is that it’s lovely and that I always recommend that area to people who ask ‘where to go in Romania’.

Should you have any questions, please feel free to write them in your comments or even e-mail Jan at desk_at_janhenckens.com

Good luck and should you know somebody interested in this, please share it. You never know who might benefit out of it 🙂

One of the few friends from my Erasmus times is Mexican. As I managed to get to know a lot of interesting things about his country due to his stories, I invited him to present you México from a local perspective.

Muchas gracias, Arturo!

Dear reader, enjoy!

What is the first thought that comes into your mind when you hear the word “Mexico”?

And what about violence? Yes, there are some problems concerning this aspect, but sometimes media tends to overdramatize. So, why did Mexico receive more than 23 million visitors last year? I will tell you some reasons, but you have to discover the rest. 😉

Pre-Columbian cultures and civilizations such as the Aztec, Maya, Olmec or Teotihuacan left a stamp upon modern Mexican science, culture, architecture, cuisine and language.

Nowadays it is possible to visit countless archeological sites (Teotihuacan, Tula, Tulum, La Venta, Paquime, Palenque, Edzna, Chichen-Itza) which can be found in the desert, jungle and near the ocean. From these ruins, one learns about the Gods they worshiped, the structure of their society and way of perceiving life.

Teotihuacan :: Copyright Arturo CN

Mexico is not only about ruins, but about the people who currently live in different regions of the country. Each state with typical dishes, colorful dresses and special traditions.

For instance, on November 1st & 2nd we celebrate “Día de Muertos” (Day of the Dead) and a lot of tourists come these days to see this singular festivity. We build an “ofrenda” with photos, flowers, food and drinks in order to remember those who have died. For Mexicans, death is part of life; therefore we celebrate it as well.

Día de Muertos :: Copyright Arturo CN

Mexican food is known for its tacos and guacamole, but our gastronomy goes beyond that. Textures, aromas and tastes vary from place to place. Mole, tlayudas, cochinita pibil, chiles en nogada, chapulines (grasshoppers), tamales, atoll are just some examples of the gastronomical diversity.

Do you know famous Mexicans? What about Frida Kahlo, Amado Nervo, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, Carlos Fuentes or Ocatvio Paz? Take a look to some of their work and you will be impressed.

I would say Mexico is the outcome of an interesting history, amazing culture, enviable geography and warm people. If I had to describe Mexico in three words, I would choose: diversity, colors and hospitality.

Guanajuato :: Copyright Arturo CN

Come to Mexico and discover a magical land, you will not regret it! 🙂

Some interesting facts about Mexico:

Mexico is the biggest Spanish-speaking country in the world. Besides Spanish, Mexico´s government recognizes 68 indigenous languages as national languages.

Mexico has 32 UNESCO World Heritage Sites (6th in the world!) and some of the World Heritage Cities in Mexico are Campeche, Guanajuato, Oaxaca, Mexico City…

Mexico is the world´s largest silver producer.

Mexico City hosted the XIX Olympic Games (1968) and the FIFA World Cup twice (1970 and 1986).

In the XIX century Mexico lost half of its national territory to the USA. In 1835, the states of Texas, California, Nevada and Utah and parts of Colorado, Arizona, Wyoming and New Mexico were part of Mexico.

Arturo CN

If you have a comment or question, for sure Arturo would be happy to reply to you 😉

Next country on the list that intrigues me for a while is South Africa. European friends that had the chance to live there as expats had incredible stories about the beauty of this country, guess that’s why it’s stick in my mind.

Republic of South Africa is the 25th largest country in the world by land area. The 52.9 million people that call South Africa “home” make it the 24th most populous nation. South Africa has around 2800 square kilometers of coastline along the Indian and South Atlantic Oceans.

Diversity is at home in here: from languages, to cultures and religion. There are 11 official languages, which makes South Africa third only to Bolivia and India. Among the most spoken are Zulu (22.7%), Xhosa (16%) and Afrikaans (13.5%), the latter originating from Dutch. English comes fourth and it is spoken by less than 10% of South Africans.

There are 3 official capital cities: Pretoria (executive), Bloemfontein (judicial) and Cape Town (legislative). The largest city in South Africa, Johannesburg, is also considered the world’s largest city not situated on a lake, river or coastline.

And since you have the map above, right below Johannesburg you can see a landlocked space, which is actually Lesotho, a 2 million people country.

Among famous people that were born in South Africa, it’s a must to mention Nelson Mandela (who was imprisoned for 27 years serving a sentence for sabotage), Mark Shuttleworth (who started the Ubuntu Foundation in 2005), and Elon Musk (Tesla Motors & SpaceX’s CEO).

I knew about Mandela and Shuttleworth, but it was a surprise to learn about Elon Musk’s origins 🙂

Nine days ago we had the great chance to visit Switzerland. And that meant not only staying around Geneva, but travel around and visit some very interesting places.

One of them was La Maison du Gruyère, which is, using the original term, fromagerie de démonstration. Beside making cheese, these guys thought of making some money out of touristic purposes too. Not bad at all!

Besides the practical information and numbers you need to make an idea of how much milk they need for this cheese, you also get a chance to see how milk is processed and what is the end result.

This post will make a summary, but we strongly encourage you to pass by if you have the chance 😉

Our tour was guided by Cerise, the happy cow that gives milk to make this great cheese. It was composed of three spaces: the smell space, the milk space and the production space.

The smell (not smelly!) space gave us the chance to sniff the scents of all those magnificent plants a cow eats: purple clover, white clover, dry hay, thyme, vanilla orchid, etc. Very nice way of involving this sense in an exhibition 😉

The milk space gave us the numbers, so to say. Any idea how many kilograms of grass and how many liters of milk a cow needs a day to produce 25 liters of milk a day? Not more and not less than 100 kg of grass and 85 liters of water! Impressive, isn’t it?!

The production space gave us a glimpse of how the cheese is made. Those copper boilers (seen in the image below), have a capacity of 4800 liters of milk. After a long preparation, 4800 liters of milk will give 12 pieces of Gruyère cheese, each of them weighing 35 kilograms. That means that for every 35 kilograms of cheese, we need 400 liters of milk.

Photo by Tassos

I will skip some steps and take you directly to the cellar, as you can see in the picture below. This is the place where the cheese will mature, being kept between 5 and 12 months.

Photo by Tassos

Of course, by now, you’ve received the key information about such a place, but nothing compares to the real experience. It may or it may not be Gruyère, but if you ever have the opportunity to visit a fromagerie, don’t think twice 😉

Big thanks go to Ramo & Thedi for driving us and showing us the place. Chapeau! 😉